The domus de Janas will be a candidate for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List

Today, the Governing Council of the Italian National Commission for UNESCO met at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and resolved to nominate to the UNESCO World Heritage List for 2025 "Art and Architecture in the Prehistory of Sardinia. The domus de janas." Twenty-six monumental complexes, built between the fifth and third millennia B.C. and referable to the age between the Middle Neolithic and Copper Age, which constitute an exceptional testimony of the cultural system that characterized Sardinia until the dawn of the Bronze Age with a continuity interrupted only by the advent of the Nuragic Civilization (criterion iii).

The nomination is based on criteria ii, iii and vi of the 1972 Convention for the Protection of the Cultural and Natural Heritage. Regarding criterion ii, the site presents different monumental typologies, which fit with original outcomes into the great phenomena of Mediterranean and European hypogeism and megalithism, due to the continuous and reciprocal exchanges, determined by the supply of raw materials, such as obsidian.

The domus de janas, which according to the most ancient folk tales are the dwellings of the Janas, or little fairies, constitute the historical memory of Sardinia for the evocation of magical events still present in the cultural tradition of the island, the structure and decorative heritage of them reflect the belief system of prehistoric communities, fulfilling the criterion vi of the Convention. The domus fascinated Grazia Deledda, Nobel laureate in literature, and Max Leopold Wagner, father of Sardinian linguistics.

The proposed series, also allowing the reconstruction of the narrative of the daily life of Sardinian communities through monuments representative of the funerary, cultural and magical-religious function, includes all the elements useful to express the Outstanding Universal Value.

The candidacy, promoted by the Association Centro Studi Identità e Memoria - Sardegna and supported by the Region of Sardinia, the network of Domus de janas Municipalities and the 37 municipalities involved in the project, will be submitted to the advisory bodies of the World Heritage Committee for consideration and then, in 2025, to the Committee of the 1972 Convention.

“I am pleased that the UNESCO National Commission accepted the proposal of the Ministry of Culture and decided to submit the domus de janas for inscription on the World Heritage List. The 26 sites guard a cultural and historical testimony of exceptional universal value that well illustrates the richness of Sardinian heritage,” commented Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano.

Pictured: Tomb I or of “S’Incantu” - Necropolis of Monte Siseri - Putifigari (SS)

The domus de Janas will be a candidate for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List

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